Pot Pourri

Art
I spotted this sculpture while scouting out a parking lot near the police headquarters, before I read anything about it. "Wow" remains my response. It's solemn and eye-catching. I like it.

Entertainment
For my new DVD player, I got a "membership" to J's entertainment emporium. Currently, I have Ren & Stimpy checked out. Have you ever noticed that Ren can move in Gollum-like ways?

I very much enjoyed the H2G2 movie. I wore the "42" button a friend gave me in a graduation card 17 years ago all day at work. Two people asked about the meaning; everyone else ignored it. . . . I didn't encounter anyone who would admit to knowing the meaning until our pre-movie meal, when the young man clearing tables asked if we'd seen the movie. (Oops, we forgot to go back and give him our review. I was too anxious to get out of the police-patrolled, teenager-teeming suburb.)

Anyway, I liked the effects and sets, the new ways the story wandered (DNA himself liked to take it new directions), the acting, and the numerous bits that were verbatim from the book. Why did they Americanize the pronunciation of "zed" to "zee," though? Also, the "women standing on chairs in early 60s sitcoms" got trimmed, though the beginning of that delightful line of Slartibartfast's remains. He's telling Arthur why it's hard to follow the way he speaks, yet hints that he's not that out of touch: knowing "little" is different than knowing "nothing."

The actor playing Ford really captured the character's alienness. He's unsure about how to relate to Arthur, yet he's stupidly at ease doing some odd greeting dance when he meets up with Zaphod. As for the bit right after they are rescued, we don't get to see Ford turning into a penguin or Arthur rapidly running out of limbs -- but what we do get is immediately recognizable as an Improbability side-effect. I think I laughed during a silent moment in the theater while everyone else went Huh? for a second.

As for the hand-knit scene: fuhgetaboutit.! Brilliant.

(Rats. The games on the official website don't run on Firefox.


Public Service Announcement
It's about a month late, but as my friend the trainer of firefighters and other rescue workers recommends - nay, requires - of his friends and acquaintances, I finally put new batteries in my smoke detectors. Do it when you set the clocks back and forward. Period.

Hot damn!: NPR : Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas.

Noble

On the way out the door tonight, a co-worker said: Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you all this. When I went to get something to eat at McDonald's the guy -- I think he was a manager -- noticed my nametag and said, "Ohhh, the Library. I always wanted to be a librarian. It's such a noble job."

After last night's brief Three Stooges routine as we tried to figure out what alarm was going off, several episodes of printer snafus, and a couple of cases of misunderstanding what a patron said, that's a good reminder.


Capital City weather: sunny, breezy, 70

In Carytown: The man at Merrymaker talked up Crane's Stationery and all the fabulous new colors and designs they have. It's true, but I needed plain, serious note cards today. Next time.

A Little Diversion: a for-fun-only Southern Dialect Quiz. Time and time again my choices generated footnotes like "common in Pennsylvania and north" or "chiefly New York and New Jersey." Yes, friends, we are products of our parents. (Mom grew up in Philadelphia; Dad in Astoria and New Jersey.)

Random

Thanks to Ceci for drawing this Star Wars parody to my attention.

April in central Virginia: gorgeous.

On the Muzak at Ukrop's "Hunk a Hunk a Burning Love."

Geeking Out, library style: It does my heart good to see books fly off the endcap display I made! Especially when a little boy chose the fictional account of a Birmigham Black Baron .

Keep Those Cards & Letters Coming

The entire contents of Saturday's mail at my house: a ding letter from UVa Libraries.

Slipek on Route 1, south of Richmond. I put off reading it, at first, thinking it would feature racial tensions and run-down buildings. Whether he ignored that or whether new residents really are changing the face of the area, I don't know.

Wired News: Vive les Blogs!: "...French is now the most common language in the blogosphere after English." If I taught high school (or college) French, I would totally find a way to work blog reading into a lesson. Alas, I don't, and my own knowledge of French provided only a sliver of understanding of the blogue I tested.

Sad

S at Richmond PL shared the sad news of the death of long-time Friends member and Friends of RPL Board member Wayne Andrews. I feel the need to say the usual things: But he was so full of life! Weren't we just joking at the book sale?

Laurabelle's Blog: Interface cruft -- people got used to that weird way of doing it, that's why.